Keynote Presentation: Enhancing Student Retention

Professor Tinto is Distinguished University Professor at Syracuse University and until recently Chair of the Higher Education Program. He has carried out research and has written extensively on higher education, particularly on student success and the impact of learning communities on student growth and attainment. His most recent book, Leaving College, published by the University of Chicago Press, lays out a theory and policy perspective on student success that is considered the benchmark by which work on these issues are judged. He has consulted widely with Federal and State agencies, with independent research firms, foundations, and with two and four-year institutions of higher education on a broad range of higher educational issues, not the least of which concern the success students in higher education in particular those of low-income and underserved backgrounds.

His current research, funded by grants from the Lumina Foundation for Education and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, focuses on the impact of learning communities on the academic achievements of under-prepared college students in urban two and four-year colleges. Dr. Tinto has received numerous recognitions and awards. Most recently he was awarded the Council of Independent Colleges 2008 Academic Leadership Award, the National Institute for Staff Development International 2008 Leadership Award and was named Distinguished Fellow in the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations.

We invite you to attend the meetings faciliated by Dr.Tinto during his visit to UTB/TSC

Successful Implementation of Learning Communities (Exclusive to Learning Community Faculty). This will be an interactive session that provides participants a forum to raise questions and discuss various issues that shape the successful implementation of learning communities. The point will be made that co-registration is only one of several attributes of learning communities and that faculty pedagogical practices (e.g. using pedagogies of engagement such as cooperative learning and problem-based learning), collaboration in curriculum development, and ongoing assessment are critical to development of effective learning communities on campus.

Developing a Coherent First-Year Experience. This will be an interactive session that provides participants a forum to raise questions and discuss various issues that arise from efforts to restructure the first-year of university study. Central to the discussion is the importance of developing a coherent first-year experience for students that integrates the actions of various offices, faculty, and staff.

3. Keynote Presentation: Academic Affairs Meeting, Thursday, January 14th 10:00 - 11:30 am SETB Lecture Hall Enhancing Student Retention. Rather than focus on why students leave, we will first focus on what research tells us about the conditions on campus that promote student retention. Having described those conditions, attention will be turned to a discussion of how learning communities have been implemented so as to establish those conditions and in turn enhance student retention. Findings from a recently completed national study of learning communities will be used to highlight how learning communities achieve this.

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